BJ 
66 
S54p 


SHELDON 


PLAN  OF  AN 

ETHICAL  SUNDAY 
SCHOOL 


v: 


1  iTHICAL  ADDRESSES 


ERIE3  V,     No.  7,  SEPTEMBER,  ibgS 


■ 


■ 


1 

[  1 

I 


THE  PLAN  OF 
AN  ETHICAL 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL 


BY 


W.  £,.  SHELDON. 

Lecture  1  of  the  Ethical  S<x         of  St.  Lou;-,. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

S    BURNS  ^  V,   1305  Arch  Street. 

Published.   Monthly    (except   July  and   August.) 

(Entered  At  Phili.'>lphia  a*  reconH-class  matter.) 

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E 


ETHICAL  ADDRESSES. 

FIFTH  SERIES-1898. 


1- 


Subscription,    50   Cents   a.   year. 
Single  Numbers,  5  Cents. 


JANUARY.— The  Ethical  Culture  Society  as  the  Meeting  Groumf 
of  Gentiles  and  Jews,  Felix  Adler. 

FEBRUARY.— What  is  of  Permanent  Value  in  the  Bible  (Tiiejj 
Old  Testament)  ?    Wm.  M.  Salter. 


! 


MARCH.— What  is  of  Permanent  Value  in  the  Bible  (The  New 
Testament)?    Wm.  M.  Salter. 

APRIL.— The  Punishment  of  Children,  Felix  Adler.     [Appen  \ 
dix,  The  German  Ethical  Societies,  by  F.  W.  Foerster]. 

MAY.— The  Punishment  of  Children  (Concluded),  Felix  Adler. 

JUNE.— The  Ethics  of  the  War  with  Spain,  S.  Burns  Weston. 

SEPTEMBER.— I.    The  Plan  of  an  Ethical  Sunday  School,  W.  J 

L.  Sheldon. 


OCTOBER.— II.    The  Plan  of  an  Ethical  Sunday  School,  W. 

Iv.  Sheldon. 


Subscriptions  may  be  paid  to  the  Librarians  at  the  Sunday  morning  I 
meetings  of  the  Ethical  Societies,  or  sent  by  mail  to 

S.  BURNS  WESTON,  1305  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia. 


TBI 

55  V 


P 


JHE  PLAN  OF  AN 

ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

BY    W.   L.  SHELDON. 
I. 

In  venturing  to  give  this  outline  of  a  scheme  of  in- 
duction for  an  Ethical  Sunday  school,  I  shall  simply 
idertake  to  describe  the  system  we  have  been  work- 
g  out  in  connection  with  our  Ethical  Society  in  St. 
ouis. 

It  was  our  intention  to  reverse  the  process  customary 

the  average  Sunday  school,  letting  the  teaching  con- 
jrning  "  religious  conceptions  "  come  in  at  the  end  of 
ie  course,  about  the  time  when  the  young  people  are 
issing  on  into  young  manhood  and  young  womanhood  ; 
1  the  other  hand,  beginning  the  course  of  instruction 
ith  the  elements  of  morality.  It  has  not  been  our 
irpose  in  any  way  definitely  to  antagonize  so-called 
ligious  beliefs.  But  instead  of  beginning  our  teaching 
ith  talks  about  "  God,"  this  comes  in  as  the  last  step, 
ith  which  we  close  our  course  of  instruction  for  the 
>ung,  just  before  they  leave  our  charge  to  enter  the 
rger  School  of  Life. 

At  the  same  time,  I  am  well  aware  that  we  can  never 
ive  a  satisfactory  Sunday  school  of  any  kind  until 
thers  and  mothers  shall  send  their  children  with  the 
me  seriousness  of  purpose  with  which  they  send  their 
tildren  to  the  day-school.     In  so  far  as  we  must  hold 

(ii5) 

853S4G 


I  1 6   THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

the  young  only  by  pleasing  them  we  can  never  ac| 
plish  the  full  purpose  we  are  striving  for. 

I  believe,  for  my  own  part,  in  a  Sunday  school' 
offers  a  line  of  instruction  quite  unlike,  in  spirit,  1 
ordinarily  given  in  the  week-day  school.     And  it  is 
conviction  that  we  should  have  a  separate  time  for 
special  class  of  work,  so  that  it  could  be  distinguis 
in  the  minds  of  the  young  from  that  form  of  instruct 
which  is  given  them  chiefly  in   order  that  they  may 
able  to  earn  their  living.     The  laws  of  life,  or  the  ic 
purposes  for  which  we  are  to  live,  ought  not  to  be  as 
ciated  in  the  thoughts  of  young  people  with  the  rat 
dreary  study  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 

It  was  with  this  thought  in  view  that,  some  years  aa 

we  began  to  set  apart  a  portion  of  each  Sunday  mo 

ing  exclusively  for  the  young,  in  connection  with  1 

work  of  our  St.  Louis  Ethical  Society.      It  was  our 

tention  to  divide  the  hour  and  a  quarter  appropriat 

for  this  purpose  into  two  portions.      In  the  first  pla 

we  wished  to  have  something  that  would  take  the  pla< 

for  the  young,  of  the  so-called  "  religious  service"  a 

appeal  to  the  receptive  side  of  their  natures.     We  desir 

to  work  on  the  sentiments,  to  touch  the  heart  in  certs 

directions.     The  opportunities  for  reaching  this  side 

the  growing  soul  in  its  younger  days  are  great  enoug 

In  this  part  of  the  work,  it  is  vitally  essential  that  wh 

we  offer  the  young  people  should  give  a  certain  pleasui 

To  a  degree,  they  must  like  it,  or  else  the  effect  for  tl 

most  part  is  lost.     If  they  will  not  take  what  is  offere 

we  must  find  something  else  that  will  appeal  to  them. 

These  general  exercises  which  I  have  thought  of  as 

kind  of  "  religious  service  "   for  the  young,  have  bee 

held  in  part  before  the   class- work,   and  in  part  afte: 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    WJ 

ds.     The  study-time,  during  which  we  ask  the  young 

>ple  to  think,  or  be  active  with  their  minds,  comes  in, 

refore,  between  the  two  series  of  general  exercises. 

fjHie  foundation  of  our  school  is  a  short  "  catechism' 

Responsive    Exercise.      I    know    the    objection    to 

at  is  termed  a  "  catechism."     We  understand  only  too 

11  what  mischief  has  come  from  undertaking  to  teach 

ldren    by   rote.     And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  I  am 

ivinced  that  it  is  worth  while  to  lodge  at  once  in  the 

idnds  of  the  young  the  few  main,  fundamental  princi- 

S;s    underlying    our    whole    scheme    of    instruction. 

j  iarly  all  that  we  have  to  give  throughout  the  long 

urse  from  seven  up  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  is  but  an 

astration  or  working  out  of  these  few  principles. 

I  will  submit  this  Responsive  Exercise,  in  order  that 

ir  first  principles   may  be   understood  at  the   outset. 

e  place  this  catechism   on   a   large  scroll  before  the 

!res  of  the  members  of  the  school  where  it  can  be  read 
)m  time  to  time.  It  will  be  seen  in  what  way  we  use 
The  questions  or  citations  are  rendered  by  one 
•  another  of  the  teachers,  the  responses  being  read  in 
mcert  by  the  children,  the  Superintendent  beginning 
id  ending  the  reading  with  the  refrain  :  "  Truth  is  the 
rong  thing  :  let  man's  life  be  true."  We  do  not  read 
lis  every  Sunday,  as  we  should  not  want  the  young 
sople  to  grow  tired  of  it.  We  do  not  undertake  to 
aalyze  it  or  explain  it,  but  just  let  it  stand  for  what  it 
worth  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils.  We  assume  that 
ttle  by  little  it  will  unfold  itself  in  the  course  of  in- 
truction  we  give  them,  so  that  by  the  time  they  are 
teen  or  sixteen  years  of  age  they  shall  feel  what  it 
leans,  without  anything  definite  by  way  of  explanation 
aving  been  said  in  regard  to  it: 


Il8    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

RESPONSES. 

Supermtendent  : 

"  Truth  is  the  strong  thing,        Let  man's  life  be  true. 

The  School : 

The  Sense  of  Duty  we  should  place  above  everything  else  \ 
the  world. 

Superintendent  : 

1 '  Thou  dost  preserve  the  stars  from  wrong, 
And  the  most  ancient  heavens  through  thee  are  fresh  and  strong." 

The  School  : 

The  Good  Life  for  its  own  sake,  without  thought  of  reward, 
what  we  should  most  care  for. 

One  of  the  Teachers  :  One  of  the  Teachers  : 

"Where  your  treasure  is,   there       "Though  the  cause  of  evil  prospe 
will  your  heart  be  also. "  Yet 'tis  truth  alone  is  strong." 

Superintendent  : 

COMMANDS  WE  ARE  TO  OBEY. 
The  School : 

i.  Thou  shalt  not  lie. 

2.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

3.  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder. 

4.   Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

5.   Thou  shalt  not  covet  what  belongs  to  anothei 

One  of  the  Teachers  :  One  of  the  Teachers  : 

"  The  Eternal  seeth  not  as  man  "  Whoever  fights,  whoever  fall 

seeth  ;  for  man  looketh  on  the  out-  Justice  conquers  evermore, 

ward  appearance,  but  the  Eternal  Justice  after  as  before." 

looketh  on  the  heart."  We  should  all  love  justice. 

Superintendent : 

COMMANDS  WE  ARE  TO  OBEY. 
The  School : 

1 .  Thou  shalt  obey  thy  conscience. 

2.   Thou  shalt  revere  the  soul  in  thyself  and  in  all  others. 
3.  Thou  shalt  honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 
4.  Thou  shalt  respect  the  laws  of  thy  country. 

5:  Thou  shalt  make  thyself  of  service  to  thy  fe 
low  man. 


THE    PLAN    OF    AN    ETHICAL   SUNDAY   SCHOOL.         I  1 9 

r  of  the  Teachers  :  One  of  the  Teachers  : 

Look  not  outside  of  yourself  for  "  To  thine  own  self  be  true  ; 

uge  ;  be  a  refuge  to  yourself. ' '  Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to 


' 


i  > 


any  man 
l>eri7itendent  : 

WHAT  WE  ARE  TO  LOVE. 

e  School : 

Ve  are  to  love  the  Good  with  a  supreme  love. 

Ve  are  to  love  knowledge,  and  to  seek  Truth  wherever  it  may 

found. 

e  are  to  love  the  Beautiful ;  but  even  more  we  are  to  love 
Good  and  the  True. 

e  are  to  love  these  as  if  they  were  one  :  the  True,  the  Beau- 
1  and  the  Good. 

\e  of  the  Teachers  :  One  of  the  Teachers  : 

'  The  Soul  itself  is  the  witness  of  "I    do   nothing   but   go   about, 

Soul,  and  the  Soul  is  the  refuge  persuading  old  and  young  alike,  to 

the  Soul ;  despise  not  thine  own  care  first  and  chiefly  for  the  great- 

ul,  the  supreme  witness  of  men."  est  improvement  of  the  soul." 

perintendent : 

WHAT  WE  ARE  TO  DO. 

he  School : 

We  should  think  first  of  our  father  and  mother. 
2.  We  should  labor  for  the  welfare  of  our  own  home. 
3.  We  should  help  those  who  are  weak  or  in  trouble. 
4.  We  should  work  for  the  good  of  our  country. 
5.  We  should  believe  in  the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

ne  of  the  Teachers  :  One  of  the  Teachers  ; 

**  He  that  is  greatest  among  you  "Now  abidelh  faith,  hope,  love, 

all  be  as  one  that  serves."  these   three;    but   the   greatest   of 

May  we  always  be  ready  to  serve.  these  is  love." 

uperintendent  ; 

WHAT  WE  ARE  TO  STRIVE  FOR. 

"he  School : 

To  be  true  to  ourselves,  true  to  our  home,  true  to  our  country, 
ue  to  our  fellow-men.    We  are  to  strive  to  be  true  in  everything. 

uperintendent  : 

Truth  is  the  strong  thing,        Let  man's  life  be  true." 


120    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Along  with  this  responsive  exercise,  or  "  cate- 
chism," as  I  term  it,  we  have  songs.  We  do  not  can 
to  have  a  large  selection.  Forty  or  fifty  songs  ought  tc 
be  enough  for  the  school,  as  it  is  important  that  the 
children  should  gradually  come  to  know  them  by  hear 
and  to  sing  them  with  spirit.  Unfortunately  it  is  not  ai 
easy  matter  to  find  just  the  selections  suitable  for  ou 
purpose.  For  the  most  part  they  ought  to  grow  out  c 
our  work.  It  goes  without  saying  that  we  use  a  portioi 
of  Dr.  Adler's  "  City  of  the  Light."  Then  we  tak 
such  lines  as 


' '  The  rose  is  queen  among  the  flowers  ; 
None  other  is  so  fair  ; 
The  lily  nodding  on  its  stem 
With  fragrance  fills  the  air  ;" 


which  are  sung  to  the  air  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  an 
the  walls  fairly  ring  with  the  music,  as  the  words  ai 
rendered  in  that  old  tune  which  the  children  are  so  fon 
of.     Or  we  take  a  portion  of  the  beautiful  poem  : 


)! 


ID 


"  So  here  hath  been  dawning 
Another  blue  day : 
Think,  wilt  thou  let  it 
Slip  useless  away  ?' ' 

To  please  the  youngest,   we  may  have  the  followir 
words,  wanting  in  poetry,  but  with  a  ring  to  them  th  [ 
leads  the  little  ones  to  sing  them  with  a  glee  almost  wi 
in  its  delight : 

"  Do  it,  do  it  with  a  will, 
Do  it  right  away  ; 
If  you've  anything  to  do, 
Do  it  right  away." 

If  we  are  desperate,  in  order  to  arouse  the  children  - 
can  always  fall  back  on  a  song  of  that  kind,  and  t 


sc 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.   121 

title  ones  are  always  tempted  to  rise  and  leap  up  and 
Awn  as  they  half  sing  it,  half  shout  it  forth. 
tl  Then,  too,  we  may  strike  a  deeper  chord,  with  a  faint 
iuch  of  solemnity  in  it,  as  we  introduce  a  song  dealing 
irlth  the  experience  of  stern,  inevitable  toil  by  which 
ajen  must  earn  their  subsistence,  reminding  us  of  the 
unction  laid  upon  the  whole  human  race  :  ".  .  .  In 
e  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat  thy  bread  :" 

' '  You  cannot  pay  with  money  the  million  sons  of  toil  ; 
The  sailor  on  the  ocean  ;  the  peasant  on  the  soil  ; 
The  laborer  in  the  quarry  ;  the  heaver  of  the  coal ; 
Your  money  pays  the  labor  :  it  cannot  pay  the  soul." 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  full  significance  of 
lese  songs  will  come  at  once.  But  if  they  are  rendered 
ften  enough,  it  is  to  be  assumed  that,  gradually,  some- 

miing  of  their  meaning  will  sink  into  the  hearts  of  those 
ho  sing  them,  and  that  the  sentiments  in  such  lines 

[lay  eventually  blend  with  the  more  serious  course 
f  instruction  we  are  pursuing.  All  this  naturally  be- 
>ngs  to  the  effort  we  are  making,  to  reach  the  young  on 
le  receptive  side. 

Along  with  the  songs,  before  the  class  work  begins, 
re  usually  aim  to  have  a  five-minute  talk  to  those  pres- 
nt,  either  by  the  Superintendent  of  the  school  or  by 
guest  invited  for  the  occasion,  on  the  "  Beautiful 
nought"  chosen  for  the  day,  of  which  each  member 
f  the  school  has  received  a  copy  to  be  committed  to 
nemory. 

Once  in  every  few  weeks  it  is  the  plan  to  give  the 
chool  a  picture-talk  as  a  feature  of  the  introductory 
'  religious  service."     We  wish  to  reach   the  hearts  or 

yninds  of  the  young  through  beautiful  faces,  beautiful 
>uildings,  beautiful  scenes  from  nature  or  works  of  art. 


122    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

For  this  purpose  we  naturally  make  use  of  the  lanterr 
slide.     If  the  picture- talk  deals  with  faces,  we  can  ustk 
some    of  the    rare    pictures    of  the    old    masters,    anc  ra 
through   the  instinctive  sense  of  beauty  we  may  begir 
to  reach  the   ethical   side  of  human   nature.      I   canno 
help  thinking  that  a  great  result  is  accomplished  jus 
by  letting   the  young   sit   quietly  for    a   few  moment 
looking  at  the  face  of  one  of  the  beautiful   Madonna 
by  Raphael.     Not  much  needs  to  be  said  ;  the  younij) 
people  are  only  to  look  and   feel,  taking  in  the  efifecl 
which  to  them,  so   far  as  they  are  conscious  of  it,  lift 
just  a  delight  to  the  eye.     Yet,  while  it  is  to  them  con 
sciously  only  a  delight  to  the  eye,  those  radiant,  majesti|eg 
faces  must  somehow  sink  deep  within  the  growing  sou! 
of  those  who  are  looking  on,  and  leave  an  "  after-glow 
not  easily  erased. 

So,  too,  I  believe  we  can  attain  something  of  the  sarr 
effect  through  pictures  of  sculpture.  Some  of  the  ai 
tique  works  of  Greece  and  Rome,  such  as  the  head 
Pallas,  the  beautiful  face  of  the  Hermes,  or  the  bo' 
figure  of  the  Apollo  Belvidere,  are  objects  of  etern 
beauty  and  always  suggest  feelings  of  the  ideal. 

By  such  picture-talks  we  reach  or  touch  the  vagi 
sense  of  the  Infinite  lurking  in  the  minds  of  the  younjTo 
while  we   are  spared  from  trying  to  give  them  positr  inly 
conceptions  at  the  outset  as  to    what   the    "  Infinite  loi; 
means,  and  by  this  mistaken  method  practically  destro  mtli 
ing  the  very  sense  of  the  Infinite  altogether.  Mhe  \ 

In    another  way,   for  instance,   this   result  might  p 
accomplished  through  a  short  talk  about  the  pyramic  jin  n 
We  can  tell  in  a  general  way  how  old  they  are ;  wt|  |bo 
time  and  labor  were  required  in  building  them ;  wr 
majesty  of  size,  or  beauty  of  proportion  they  suggest 


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THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 23 

Ithout  even  alluding  to  the  word  Infinite  or  mentioning 
y  religious  conceptions  at  all.  By  this  means  we  may 
atify  the  instinctive  interest  in  the  grand,  the  majestic, 
$  the  sublime,  without  torturing  or  perverting  the  dawn- 
g  intellectual  side  of  the  child  nature  by  endeavoring 
inculcate  conceptions  utterly  beyond  its  grasp  or  com- 
ehension. 
It  is  our  desire  to  associate  the  sentiments  belonging 

I  the  Eternal^  the  Infinite,  the  Absolute,  with  the  dis- 
ctions  between  Right  and  Wrong,  with  the  thought 
i '  the  Moral  Law — but  not  to  use  these  words  so  that 
i  tey  shall  become  hackneyed,  before  the  child-mind  has 
i  igun  to  have  any  conception  at  all  as  to  what  these 
ul  ords  stand  for. 
i  All  this  is  intended  as  a  background  of  sentiment,  in 

Dnnection  with  our  course  of  Ethical  Instruction.  If 
01  stood  by  itself,  it  might  have  comparatively  little  value. 
lis  significance  comes  in  only  when  we  connect  it  with 
( le  other  work. 

)1    In  place  of  the  picture-lecture,  once   every  few  weeks 
ire    insert    a    form   of  musical  service.     The  song,  the 

iano,  the  violin,  the  cornet — almost  any  form  of  music 
u  r  any  instrument  pleasing  to  the  young,  is  made  use  of. 
1^0  them  consciously ■,  it  is  of  course,  as  we  have  said, 
vnly  a  delight  to  the  ear.  And  it  would  be  this  and 
:  othing  more  if  it  were  not  that  we  connect  it  definitely 
■j/ith  the  other  portion  of  the  morning's  work,  so  that 

he  two  belong  together.  The  sense  of  the  Infinite 
I  .roused  by  a  combination  of  beautiful  sounds,  is  reached 
In  this  way  also.  By  this  other  means,  we  may  help 
[O  associate  the  solemn,  mystical  feelings  about  the 
'  Eternal  "  the  " Absolute,"  with  the  teachings  of  moral- 
ty.     We  desire  that  all  that  sanctity  which  in  the  con- 


124        THE    PLAN    OF    AN    ETHICAL    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

ventional  Sunday  school  has  been  connected  with  the 
word  "  God,"  should  surround  the  thought  of  the 
Moral  Law.  It  is  the  Moral  Law  which  should 
sanctify  the  thought  of  God,  rather  than  that  the 
thought  of  God  should  sanctify  the  Moral  Law.  All 
this  may  seem  rather  dreamlike  than  an  actual  possibil- 
ity. But  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  ask  the  privi- 
lege of  influencing  the  young  only  little  by  little  over  a 
period  of  eight  or  nine  or  ten  years.  From  the  recep- 
tive side  we  expect  that  much  of  this  effect  will  be  un- 
conscious. To  the  young,  as  we  have  intimated,  in  so 
far  as  they  think  about  it,  a  good  deal  of  this  "  religious 
service  "  will  be  merely  a  pleasure  to  the  eye  or  a  pleas- 
ure to  the  ear.  In  our  purpose  it  means  a  great  deal 
more. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  "  Beautiful  Thought"  for  the 
day.  We  select  from  classic  literature,  from  the  best 
thinkers  or  the  great  Bibles  of  the  Old  World,  here  and 
there  stray  sentences  that  we  desire  to  have  lodged  in 
the  memories  of  the  young.  We  use  this  method  only 
as  a  minor  feature,  knowing  only  too  well  how  futile 
much  of  the  bare  memorizing  has  proved  in  the  conven- 
tional Sunday  school.  And  yet  there  are  gems  of 
thought  or  sentiment  crystalized  in  a  few  terse  words 
coming  down  to  us  from  the  past,  in  such  simple,  beau- 
tiful forms  that  all  people  ought  to  know  them.  If  we 
put  off  committing  these  sayings  to  memory  until  we  are 
"grown  up"  the  chances  are  that  we  shall  never  know 
them.  Even  if,  now  and  then,  such  a  thought  or  sen- 
timent is  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  child,  we  can  some- 
times lodge  the  words  there — not  trying  to  explain  them, 
but  assuming  that  some  time  in  later  years  these  sayings 
may  come  back  to  the  mind,  with  the  meaning  given  to 


THE    PLAN    OF    AN    ETHICAL    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.        1 25 

the  words  through  the  long  personal  experience  which 
each  one  must  have  after  entering  the  arena  of  life. 
For  the  most  part,  the  choicest  of  these  sayings  pertain 
to  human  life  and  contain  the  wisdom  gained  from  ages 
of  human  experience.  As  an  illustration  I  give  the  list 
of  "  Beautiful  Thoughts  "  we  have  used  for  one  year : 

No  man  securely  doth  command,  unless  he  hath  learned  read- 
ily to  obey. — Thomas  d>  Kempis. 

If  thou  faint  in  the  day  of  adversity,  thy  strength  is  small. — 
Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

If  you  wish  for  anything  that  belongs  to  another,  that  which  is 
your  own  is  lost. — Epictetus. 

How  long  I  shall  live  depends  upon  accident ;  but  it  depends 
upon  myself  how  well  I  live. — Seneca. 

Men  are  created  for  the  sake  of  men,  that  they  may  mutually 
do  good  to  one  another. — Cicero. 

Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall. — 
St.  Paul. 

The  superior  man  thinks  of  virtue  ;  the  small  man  thinks  of 
comfort.  The  superior  man  thinks  of  the  sanctions  of  law ;  the 
small  man  thinks  of  favors  which  he  may  receive. — Confucius. 

Nothing  that  does  not  enter  my  mind  and  get  within  me,  can  ever 
hurt  me.     Let  me  hold  to  this  and  I  am  safe. — Marcus  Aurelius. 

There  is  no  condition  of  life  that  excludes  a  wis©  man  from 
discharging  his  duty. — Seneca. 

Rejoice  not  when  thine  enemy  falleth,  and  let  not  thy  heart  be 
glad  when  he  is  overthrown. — Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Neither  the  evening  nor  the  morning  star  is  more  beautiful 
than  justice. — Aristotle* 

Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might. — Ec- 
clesiastes. 

Hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at  any  time  ;  hatred  ceases  by 
love.     This  is  an  old  rule. — Buddha. 

Create  in  me  a  clean  heart  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
— Psalms  of  the  Hebrews. 

L/et  us  therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness  and  let  us  put 
on  the  armor  of  light. — St.  Paul. 

The  reward  of  doing  one  duty  is  the  power  to  perform  another. 
— Ben  Azai. 

Choose  the  best  life,  and  habit  by  and  by  will  make  you  like  it 
the  best. — Epictetus. 


126    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

What  fools  say  is  pleasure,  that  the  noble  say  is  pain ;  what 
fools  say  is  pain,  that  the  noble  know  as  pleasure. — Buddha. 

Not  in  the  sky,  not  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  not  if  we  enter  into 
the  clefts  of  the  mountains,  is  there  known  a  spot  in  the  whole 
world  where  a  man  might  be  freed  from  an  evil  deed. — Buddha. 

The  evil  bow  before  the  good  ;  and  the  wicked  at  the  gates  of 
the  righteous. — Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

The  man  whom  reason  guides  is  freer,  when  he  lives  in  a  com- 
munity under  the  bond  of  common  laws,  than  when  he  lives  in  a 
solitude  where  he  obeys  himself  alone. — Spinoza. 

A  man  should  say:  "  I  am  not  concerned  that  I  have  no  place;  I 
am  concerned  how  I  may  fit  myself  for  one.  I  am  not  concerned 
that  I  am  not  known;  I  seek  to  make  myself  worthy  to  be  known." 
— Confucius. 

Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good. — St.  Paul. 

He  who  lives  looking  for  pleasure  only,  the  tempter  will  cer- 
tainly overthrow  him,  as  the  wind  throws  down  a  weak  tree. — 
Buddha. 

Now  I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  therefore  be  thou  strong  and 
show  thyself  a  man. — King  David. 

After  the  lesson  hour,  during  which  the  young  peo- 
ple have  been  assembled  in  their  respective  classes,  and 
when  they  come  back  once  more  for  the  second  portion 
of  the  general  exercises  or  "  religious  service,"  the 
"  Beautiful  Thought  "  for  the  day  is  recited  by  a  member 
chosen  from  each  class  for  that  purpose,  beginning  with 
the  youngest.  One  of  the  little  ones  rises  and  repeats 
the  words  ;  then  one  from  the  next  older  class,  and  so 
on  back  until  we  come  to  the  class  of  adults,  when  the 
sentence  is  finally  recited  by  the  entire  school  in  unison. 
If  any  of  those  present  have  not  committed  it  to 
memory  at  the  outset,  they  are  quite  sure  to  know  it  by 
heart  before  the  time  comes  when  they  all  repeat  it  to- 
gether. 

After  this  we  usually  have  a  recitation  from  one  of 
the  young  people.  It  has  been  our  desire  that,  little  by 
little,  they  should  come  to  know  by  heart  some  of  the 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    12J 

rarest  gems  of  ethical-religious  thought  or  sentiment  in 
prose  or  verse.  We  may  select  for  the  youngest  ones 
the  short  poem  about  "  The  Daisy"  from  Wordsworth  ; 
or  for  the  older  boys  and  girls,  possibly,  such  words  as 
Clough's  noble  lines  : 

"  .   .   .   .   Say  not  the  struggle  naught  availeth ;" 

or  perhaps  a  chapter  from  the  teachings  of  the  "  Path 
of  Virtue  "  of  Buddhism  ;  or  the  solemn  and  heart-stir- 
ring words  : 

"  .   .   .    .  He  was  despised  and  rejected  of  men," 

from  the  prophet  Isaiah.  We  also  ask  the  members  of 
the  adult  class  to  give  recitations,  and  they  may  render 
from  time  to  time  such  selections  as  Matthew  Arnold's 
"  Self  Dependence;"  or  the  "Apostrophe  to  Duty"  by 
Immanuel  Kant,  or  a  passage  from  the  writings  of 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 

Then,  perhaps,  the  leader  of  our  school  may  read  a 
short  story,  taking  not  more  than  five  minutes — some- 
thing that  shall,  as  it  were,  "  let  the  minds  down  "  from 
the  high  level  we  have  been  endeavoring  to  keep  them 
on  during  the  study  time,  while  giving  something  con- 
crete from  human  life  which  the  young  can  carry  away 
with  them. 

Naturally,  we  end  with  a  song,  or  else  with  our  re- 
sponsive exercise  or  "  catechism." 

It  is  only  when  we  come  to  the  active  side  of  the 
child's  mind  and  endeavor  to  reach  or  develop  the 
ethical  side  of  his  nature  by  making  the  mind  think  for 
itself,  that  we  have  the  more  serious  problems  confront- 
ing us.  Little  by  little  we  have  been  sketching  the  out- 
lines for  a  series  of  studies  covering  a  period  of  nine 


128    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

years,  from  the  age  of  seven  to  about  sixteen  ;  and  I  shall 
endeavor  in  as  terse  a  way  as  possible  to  give  some  idea 
of  what  kind  of  work  we  are  trying  to  do  in  this  course 
of  instruction.  It  is  the  more  important  part  of  the 
work  of  the  school,  and  the  harder  part.  It  means 
work,  not  only  on  the  part  of  the  young,  but  even  more 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
those  who  undertake  to  use  such  methods  for  ethical 
instruction  should  find  difficulties  in  the  way,  and  assert 
only  too  emphatically  that  the  old  method  in  the  conven- 
tional Sunday  school  was  much  easier  and  gave  more 
immediate  results. 

With  the  youngest  of  the  children,  from  the  ages  of 
seven  to  nine  years,  we  begin  with  the  Bible  stories  of 
the  Old  Testament,  from  the  account  of  Adam  and  Eve 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden  down  to  David  and  Solomon 
and  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  in  Pal- 
estine. We  do  not  undertake  to  have  these  taught  in 
the  conventional  way,  using  the  exact  language  of  the 
Bible  and  giving  all  that  we  find  there.  The  main  point 
is  to  select  such  stories  or  tales  as  may  have  a  meaning 
to  the  little  ones  and  carry  some  sort  of  an  ethical 
lesson.  We  tell  these  stories,  as  we  have  already  said, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  child  about  God, 
but  about  man,  and  what  man  has  learned  of  life 
and  about  right  and  wrong  through  long  ages  of  history 
and  experience. 

These  tales  are  told  as  "  stories,"  with  no  special 
discussion  as  to  whether  they  are  true  or  not  true, 
whether  they  are  history  or  not  history.  Problems  of 
this  kind  may  arise  with  adult  classes  dealing  with  the 
Bible ;  but  at  the  outset  we  have  another  purpose  in 
view.      I    think  that  anyone   can   see   why  all  children 


THE    PLAN    OF    AN    ETHICAL   SUNDAY    SCHOOL.        I2Q, 

should  learn  the  stories  of  the  Bible  in  one  form  or  an- 
other ;  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  these  stories  are  the 
basis  of  the  literature  of  Christendom.  Many  a  grown 
man  nowadays  is  humiliated  to  find  that  he  cannot 
understand  some  of  the  simplest  allusions  in  what  he 
reads,  because  of  his  ignorance  of  the  stories  from  the 
Bible.  The  young  ought  to  know  them,  if  on  no  other 
grounds,  just  because  everybody  all  over  the  world  is 
expected  to  know  them.  Fathers  and  mothers  cannot 
afford  to  submit  their  children  to  the  possible  humilia- 
tion in  later  years  of  being  ignorant  on  subjects  about 
which  all  cultured  persons  are  supposed  to  know  at 
least  something. 

But  the  advantage  is  that  these  stories  from  the  Bible 
are  not  mere  "  stories."  They  are  not  like  the  tales  from 
Homer,  or  like  most  of  the  other  stories  from  the  classical 
literatures  of  the  world.  These  tales  from  the  Bible,  be- 
ginning with  Adam  and  Eve,  down  to  David  and  Solo- 
mon, can  be  told  in  an  interesting  way  as  illustrating  the 
simple  elements  of  morality.  But  it  will  be  found  that 
we  cannot  always  read  these  stories  to  the  young  exactly 
as  they  stand  in  the  Bible.  Such  a  statement  may  be  a 
shock  to  orthodox  minds.  And  yet  it  is  surprising  how 
many  orthodox  minds  are  coming  to  admit  this  fact  and 
to  realize  that  the  Bible  as  it  stands,  is  to  be  read  by  the 
adult  mind,  and  not  by  the  child.  Still,  the  moral  thread 
is  there,  and  it  is  this  moral  thread  that  we  undertake  to 
preserve  and  make  use  of  by  telling  these  stories  or  tales 
in  simple  language,  leaving  out  such  portions  as  are 
irrelevant,  or  such  stories  as  may  have  no  ethical  import 
or  may  give  a  shock  to  the  moral  sense.  As  to  the 
supernatural  side,  we  do  not  have  to  talk  about  it. 
Where  it  becomes  necessary  for  us  to  introduce  it,  we 


130    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

can  just  let  it  stand  and  read  it  as  a  part  of  the  tale. 
For  myself,  however,  I  prefer,  in  using  these  stories,  to 
preserve  the  old  Hebrew  name  of  the  Deity,  "  Yahweh," 
throughout,  not  positively  connecting  it  with  the  higher 
conception  of  "  God  "  such  as  comes  out  later  on  in  the 
prophets  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah. 

I  may  give  a  single  illustration  of  one  of  these  les- 
sons, showing  how  we  use  these  tales  from  the  Bible, 
although  the  selection  has  to  be  made  somewhat  at 
random.  Take,  for  instance,  the  story  of  "  The  Tower 
of  Babel : " 

It  was  a  long  while  ago,  just  how  long  I  cannot  say,  and  over  in 
another  part  of  the  world,  after  the  time  of  the  great  Flood — it 
may  have  been  hundreds  of  years  later,  when  Noah  was  no  longer 
alive  and  there  were  again  a  great  number  of  people  on  earth. 
They  had  begun  to  build  cities.  They  had  riches  once  more,  and 
they  were  giving  themselves  over  to  having  a  good  time — seeking 
only  after  pleasures,  and  just  those  kind  of  pleasures  which  sat- 
isfy people  for  the  moment  and  leave  nothing  behind. 

They  had  so  much  wealth  and  they  had  been  so  successful  in 
building  their  cities  that  they  were  overcome  with  pride.  I  suppose 
you  know  what  that  feeling  means?  In  those  days  it  seems  that 
every  man  somehow  felt  as  if  he  were  better  than  any  other  man. 
So  now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  of  something  extraordinary  that 
took  place.  What  put  it  into  the  people's  heads  I  do  not  know. 
It  is  never  quite  easy  to  explain  the  strange  ideas  or  plans  which 
some  persons  have.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  the  people  at  that  time 
thought  up  the  strangest  sort  of  a  scheme.  As  to  the  sense  of  it 
all,  you  must  decide  for  yourselves.  But  they  got  it  into  their 
heads  that  they  would  build  a  tower.  It  was  not  to  be  just  the 
ordinary  kind  of  a  tower,  but  something  great  and  mighty ; 
greater  than  anything  which  had  ever  been  built  before.  It  was 
to  be  high.  "  How  high?  "  you  ask.  Why,  they  meant  to  make 
it  go  on  up  until  it  touched  the  sky.  I  suppose  they  did  not  know 
in  those  days  just  what  the  sky  was,  or  how  high  it  was  up  there. 
At  any  rate,  they  thought  they  could  do  it ;  in  fact,  they  were 
sure  of  it. 

They  talked  and  talked  a  great  deal  about  that  tower,  and  how 
they  would  build  it.     And  so  at  last  they  set  to  work  and  laid  the 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 3  I 

foundations.  You  can  be  sure  these  foundations  were  solid  and 
strong.  They  were  not  going  to  have  their  tower  tumble  over ;. 
it  was  to  stay  there  forever.  "  What  did  they  do  it  for?  "  you  ask. 
Well,  I  do  not  quite  know.  It  may  be  that  they  did  not  know 
themselves.  People  do  not  always  have  the  best  of  reasons  for 
the  plans  they  have.  All  I  know  is  that  they  wanted  to  build  a 
tower,  and  that  it  was  to  be  something  very  large  indeed.  In 
fact,  they  wanted  to  see  just  what  they  could  do.  They  had  an 
idea  that  they  could  do  almost  anything,  and  they  were  quite  sure 
they  knew  almost  eve^thing.  They  had  stopped  trying  to  learn 
anything  more  because  they  were  so  satisfied  with  themselves, 
thinking  they  knew  it  all,  or  all  that  ever  could  be  known. 

This  tower  then,  I  suppose,  was  to  show  how  clever  they  were 
They  could  look  at  it  after  it  reached  the  sky  and  think  what  a 
big  thing  they  had  done  and  how  much  superior  they  would  show 
themselves  to  any  other  human  beings  who  ever  lived  before 
them,  or  to  any  people  who  might  come  afterwards.  What  sort 
of  a  feeling  do  you  call  this?  "Pride,"  do  you  answer?  Yes,, 
that  was  it.  These  people  were  just  proud.  They  evidently 
wanted,  as  we  would  say  nowadays,  to  "  show  off." 

You  see  the  world  was  young  then.  There  had  not  been  very 
much  history,  and  people  had  not  found  out  "  what  they  did  not 
know."  Sometimes  it  happens,  as  you  may  be  aware,  that  the 
more  ignorant  a  person  is  the  more  he  thinks  he  knows.  He 
likes  to  talk  about  himself,  to  think  about  himself ;  and  he  likes 
to  have  other  people  look  at  him  and  admire  him  and  talk  about 
him. 

These  strange  people  lived  on  what  was  called  the  Plain  of  vShi- 
nar,  away  over  in  Asia  somewhere  ;  and  they  began  to  build  their 
tower.  Just  as  soon  as  the  foundations  were  laid,  thousands  of 
people  would  come  out  every  day  to  look  at  it,  and  the  more  they 
looked  at  it  the  more  esteem  they  felt  for  themselves,  and  the 
more  sure  they  were  that  no  people  would  ever  be  able  to  do  any- 
thing so  great  or  achieve  anything  so  extraordinary  as  this  tower 
was  going  to  be.  It  kept  on  going  up,  higher  and  higher.  At 
first  it  only  reached  to  the  tops  of  the  doors  of  the  houses  ;  by 
and  by  it  was  as  high  as  the  roofs  ;  then  it  went  on  up  above  the 
walls  of  the  city,  and  soon  it  was  higher  than  anything  else  in  the 
country.  Yet  it  kept  on  going  up,  and  they  made  more  brick  and 
brought  more  stone  and  built  it  higher  and  higher,  and  as  they 
watched  the  sky  they  kept  wondering  how  long  it  would  be  before 
their  tower  would  touch  that  great  blue  dome  up  there. 

If  they  had  been  proud  before  they  laid  the  foundations  of  that 


132    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

tower,  they  grew  more  and  more  proud  every  day.  They  spent 
pretty  much  all  their  time  admiring  themselves.  I  suppose  if 
there  had  been  any  books  in  those  days  they  would  have  stopped 
reading  them.  Why  should  they  read  books  when  they  "knew 
all  about  it "  ?  What  reason  did  they  have  for  going  to  see  other 
parts  of  the  world  when  they  were  so  superior  themselves  ?  Yet, 
all  the  while,  up  went  that  tower,  and  it  did  almost  look  as  if  it 
were  going  to  touch  the  sky.  "  What  sort  of  name  did  they  give 
to  it?  "  you  ask.  Well,  I  think  I  should  have  called  it  the  "Tower 
of  Pride"  ;  but  that  was  not  the  name  they  gave  to  it  themselves. 

But  by  and  by  something  happened.  Usually  when  people  get 
too  proud  something  does  happen.  Do  you  think  that  the  tower 
fell  down?  No,  it  stayed  there — at  least,  for  awhile;  just  how 
long  I  do  not  know.  But  there  was  a  fall  of  another  kind  for  the 
Tower  of  Pride. 

It  seems  that  Yahweh,  the  Ruler  of  the  World,  got  to  thinking 
about  it,  and  he  did  not  altogether  approve  of  what  was  going  on 
dowm  there  on  the  Plain  of  Shinar.  He  was  quite  certain  if  the 
human  race  went  on  in  that  way  they  would  think  they  knew 
everything  and  that  the  world  would  come  to  a  standstill.  Now 
Yahweh  wanted  the  human  race  to  go  on  improving,  and  he 
knew  that  the  one  great  vice  which  would  keep  the  people  from 
improving  was  Pride. 

There  was  no  other  way.  Those  people  there  on  the  Plain  of 
Shinar  had  to  be  taught  humility  ;  their  pride  must  have  a  fall ; 
in  some  way  they  must  be  brought  back  to  their  senses.  I  al- 
most wonder  that  Yahweh  did  not  despise  these  people  altogether 
and  decide  not  to  have  any  human  beings  on  earth  at  all  if  they 
were  going  to  be  so  vain.  But  no  ;  he  felt  pity  for  them  because 
they  were  young,  and  they  had  not  had  much  experience  ;  and  so 
he  thought  he  would  try  another  way  to  teach  them  humility. 

The  people  had  almost  fancied  that  their  tower  was  just  about 
to  reach  the  sky.  It  was  higher  than  anything  else  in  the  world, 
and  they  were  growing  more  and  more  supremely  satisfied  over  it. 
I  suppose  there  must  have  been  thousands  of  men  at  work  there. 

But  one  morning  there  was  trouble.  All  the  work  came  to  a 
standstill.  Yahweh  had  decided  to  interfere.  And  what  do  you 
suppose  he  did  ?  Well,  it  is  said,  you  know,  that  people  in  those 
days  all  talked  alike.  Nowadays  we  have  any  number  of  lan- 
guages among  the  races  scattered  throughout  the  world,  hundreds 
of  languages,  I  suppose. 

But  from  what  we  are  told,  up  to  that  time  people  talked  only 
one  language,  and  all  men  could   understand  each  other.     This 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 33 

may  have  been  one  reason  why  they  thought  they  knew  every- 
thing. But  at  any  rate,  one  morning  the  work  stopped.  Thou- 
sands of  men  had  come  together  to  work  on  the  tower,  when  all  of 
a  sudden  they  found  they  could  not  understand  each  other.  One 
man  was  talking  in  one  language,  and  another  was  talking  in 
another  language.  Just  how  many  languages  they  were  speaking 
I  do  not  know ;  but  I  fancy  it  must  have  been  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands. 

There  they  were.  What  could  they  do  ?  One  man  would  give  a 
direction  and  the  other  man  could  not  understand  it.  The  whole 
plan  fell  to  pieces.  They  could  not  talk  ;  they  could  not  direct 
each  other  ;  they  could  not  explain  to  each  other  what  they  were 
trying  to  do.  It  was  the  end  of  that  tower.  As  far  as  they  were 
concerned  it  was  just  as  if  that  great  structure  had  tumbled  down 
upon  their  heads.  It  was  there  just  the  same  as  it  was  the  day 
before  ;  but  they  could  not  go  on  with  it. 

And  as  they  tried  to  talk  to  each  other  and  found  they  could  not 
understand  what  others  were  saying,  it  struck  them  that  perhaps, 
after  all,  they  did  not  know  everything  ;  otherwise  there  would 
not  be  such  a  wild  and  stupid  confusion  everywhere.  It  was  an 
awful  blow.  A  blow  to  what,  you  ask  ?  Why,  to  their  pride, 
I  should  say.  They  came  to  realize  that  they  were  not  so 
great  as  they  thought  they  were  ;  that  they  did  not  know  as  much 
as  they  thought  they  did  ;  that  they  were  not  nearly  as  superior  as 
they  had  fancied. 

What  a  state  of  mind  the  people  must  have  been  in,  there  in  that 
great  city  !     They  looked  up  at  their  tower  and  they  felt  ashamed. 

It  no  longer  added  to  their  pride  ;  and  they  wished  they  could 
pull  it  down.  It  all  seemed  very  childish  now,  the  effort  they  had 
made  to  "show  off."  They  wished  they  had  never  begun  it.  It 
struck  them  that  perhaps,  after  all,  the  human  race  was  young, 
and  that  if  they  were  to  start  out  and  scatter  over  the  world,  they 
might  go  on  improving  and  learning  a  great  deal  more. 

They  left  their  tower  and  it  crumbled  away.  They  abandoned 
their  city,  those  speaking  one  language  going  one  way,  others 
speaking  another  language  going  another  way.  But  as  they  de- 
parted they  had  quite  a  different  look  on  their  faces  from  what 
they  had  had  a  few  years  before  when  in  their  pride  they  had  laid 
the  foundations  of  that  great  building.  The  Tower  of  their  Pride 
had  fallen,  and  they  had  learned  humility. 

In  this  way  we  can  tell  the  stories  of  "  Noah  and  the 

Flood,"    "The    Sacrifice   of  Isaac,"   the   "  Marriage   of 


134   THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Isaac  and  Rebekah,"  of  "  Joseph  and  his  Brethren,"  of 
the  "  Plagues  in  Egypt,"  of  "  Moses  and  Mt.  Sinai," 
of  the  "Crossing  of  the  Jordan,"  of  the  "  Victories  of 
Joshua  over  the  Canaanites,"  the  "  Struggle  between 
the  Israelites  and  the  Philistines,"  of  the  brave  young 
David  and  his  battle  with  Goliath,  and  his  beautiful 
friendship  with  Jonathan,  and  so  on  to  the  great  King 
Solomon  and  his  court  at  Jerusalem. 

These  are  told,  as  I  have  said,  as  stories.  The  main 
point  is  that  the  little  ones  should  know  them  or  know 
about  them,  and  at  the  same  time  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  great  moral  principles  underlying  all  human  history. 
We  do  not  ask  these  youngest  children  to  think  much 
for  themselves.  We  wish  mainly  to  have  them  gain  a 
permanent  knowledge  of  these  tales.  It  is  a  delight  to 
see  how  the  little  ones  cluster  around  their  teacher  and 
how  fond  they  become  of  these  stories  from  the  Bible 
when  told  in  the  right  way.  This  is  the  only  consec- 
utive series  of  tales  or  stories  we  make  use  of  in  the 
school,  mainly  because  they  are  about  the  only  series 
in  ancient  literature  having  a  conspicuous  thread  of 
moral  teaching  running  through  them.  When  these 
tales  passed  their  final  revision  at  the  hands  of  the 
priests  or  prophets  among  the  Israelites,  it  was  evidently 
intended  that  they  should  not  be  merely  history  or 
biography,  but  that  they  should  teach  the  elements  of 
ethical  truth  ;  and  this  is  what  gives  them  their  value, 
although  sometimes  the  ethical  truth  may  be  rather 
crude  and  still  in  need  of  revision. 

In  so  far  as  we  use  stories  or  biographies  elsewhere 
in  our  course  of  instruction  they  are  introduced  inci- 
dentally, only  by  way  of  illustration,  or  in  order  to 
bring  out  some  special  point.     For  this  other  purpose  it 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 35 

is  possible  to  collect  illustrative  material  from  all  the 
great  literatures  of  the  world. 

At  about  the  age  of  nine  years  we  begin  the  system- 
atic work  we  are  outlining  in  our  Course  of  Instruc- 
tion. The  first  year  is  devoted  to  a  study  of  the 
"  Habits."  The  teacher  takes  up  one  habit  after  another, 
talking  it  over  with  the  boys  and  girls,  seeing  what  im- 
pressions they  may  have  concerning  it,  what  they  have 
learned  about  it  for  themselves  out  of  their  own  expe- 
riences and  observations,  and  then  adding  to  this  the 
wisdom  which  the  older  mind  can  impart. 

It  is  necessary  at  the  outset  to  have  a  general  talk 
about  habits,  and  what  they  mean  ;  distinguishing  them 
from  instincts,  so  that  the  young  may  realize  how  they 
themselves  acquire  habits  and  are  responsible  for  them, 
and  therefore  what  an  important  part  in  life  is  played  by 
the  habits  one  acquires. 

Then  the  teacher  may  devote  a  morning  to  a  talk 
about  the  habit  of  "  Exaggeration,"  for  instance,  asking 
the  boys  and  girls  what  they  know  about  it ;  how  they 
would  describe  it ;  what  examples  they  have  seen  of  it 
among  themselves.  Then  comes  the  question  :  "  What 
leads  people  to  exaggerate?"  Do  people,  for  instance, 
consciously  tell  a  lie  ?  If  what  they  tell  is  not  a  lie,  what 
does  it  mean,  or  what  leads  to  it,  or  what  are  the  mo- 
tives inspiring  it  ?  Along  with  this  must  go  the  prob- 
lem as  to  the  effect  on  a  person's  whole  life  or  character 
from  the  habit  of  exaggeration  ;  how  it  comes  that  he 
cannot  be  trusted,  and  cannot  even  trust  himself,  so  that 
by  and  by  he  does  not  even  know,  himself,  whether  he  is 
telling  the  truth  in  what  he  may  be  saying. 

Or  it  may  be  a  talk  about  "  Being  Saving."     Why 


I36    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

should  it  be  worth  one's  while  not  to  be  wasteful  with 
the  money  one  has,  whether  little  or  much,  why  is  it 
that  so  few  people  are  saving,  and  what  makes  the  habit 
so  difficult  to  acquire? 

There  can  be  a  talk  as  to  the  mistake  in  regard  to  the 
habit  of  saving,  illustrated  by  the  proverb  "  penny  wise, 
pound  foolish,"  and  the  teacher  may  close  the  morning's 
study  by  having  all  the  members  of  the  class  repeat  in 
concert,  as  one  of  the  great  reasons  for  being  saving, 
the  familiar  lines  : 

"  Not  for  to  hide  it  in  a  hedge, 
Nor  for  a  trained  attendant, 
But  for  the  glorious  privilege 
Of  being  independent." 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  in  the  study  of  the  habits 
to  what  advantage  we  can  put  the  familiar  proverbs  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  using  them  as  means  of  illustra- 
tion and  also  as  a  help  in  the  analysis,  and  at  the  same 
time  lodging  the  proverbs  in  the  minds  of  the  young 
definitely  in  connection  with  certain  special  experiences, 
rather  than  as  random  thoughts  which  may  mean  much 
or  little  according  to  the  accident  of  circumstances. 

I  will  give  just  one  sample  of  this  series  of  lessons. 
In  most  respects  the  method  is  the  same  throughout  all 
the  notes.  They  are  intended  as  fanciful  conversations 
carried  on  between  the  teacher  and  the  children.  I 
take,  for  instance,  the  one  on  "  Being  Conceited  :" 

Did  you  ever  hear  anything  about  "  being  conceited?"  Do  you 
see  any  sense  in  that?  What  would  it  mean  to  you  if  you  heard 
it  said  of  anybody  ? 

What  would  conceited  people  do?  "Talk  about  themselves," 
you  say?  Yes,  but  how  much?  "Oh,"  you  answer,  "a  good 
deal."  Then  you  think,  do  you,  that  being  conceited  would  mean 
talking  about  one's  self  a  good  deal? 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 37 

But  suppose  a  person  should  keep  saying  how  much  he  wished 
he  was  able  to  do  something,  or  keep  lamenting  because  he  was 
not  strong  enough  to  do  it ;  suppose  he  went  on  repeatedly  saying 
how  much  better  some  one  else  could  do  a  certain  thing  than  him- 
self. That  would  be  talking  a  great  deal  about  one's  self,  would 
it  not?     Do  you  think  that  would  necessarily  mean  self-conceit? 

"  No,  not  exactly,"  you  answer.  But  why  not?  That  certainly 
is  talking  about  one's  self?  ''Why,"  you  say,  "self-conceit 
mean's  talking  about  one's  self  in  a  bragging  sort  of  way."  Oh, 
is  that  it?  I  ask.     But  what  do  you  mean  by  bragging ? 

"  Why,"  you  say,  "  bragging  means  telling  how  smart  we  are, 
and  how  much  we  can  do." 

But  is  that  all  there  is  to  bragging?  What  if  one  were  to  tell 
how  much  one  could  do,  but  at  the  same  time  admitted  that  some 
one  else  could  do  it  a  great  deal  better — would  that  be  exactly 
bragging?     "  No,  not  quite,"  you  say  ? 

What  would  be  the  difference?  "Why,"  you  answer,  "brag- 
ging would  mean  trying  to  show  how  much  smarter  we  are  than 
other  people,  boasting  over  others,  talking  about  ourselves  as  supe- 
rior to  others." 

Then  that  is  what  you  mean  by  being  conceited,  is  it — always 
talking  about  one's  self  as  being  smarter  or  better  than  other 
people  ?     And  you  call  that  "  bragging,"  you  tell  me. 

I  suppose,  then,  you  mean  that  a  person  who  never  talked 
about  himself  could  not  be  conceited.  Is  that  what  you  mean  ? 
"  No,"  you  say  ;  "  for  a  person  could  be  conceited  even  if  he  did 
not  talk  about  himself." 

Then  what  would  be  going  on  in  his  mind  if  he  were  a  conceited 
person,  and  yet  did  not  talk  about  himself  ?  What  would  he  be 
thinking  about?  You  say,  "he  would  be  thinking  to  himself 
how  much  smarter  or  better  he  was  than  other  people." 

And  so  it  is  your  opinion,  is  it,  that  merely  thinking  to  one's 
self  about  one's  superiority  would  mean  being  "conceited"? 
Yes,  I  agree  with  you  there. 

How  do  you  think  such  a  conceited  person,  who  did  not  talk  to 
others  about  himself,  would  act  ?  Do  you  think  there  would  be 
any  way  of  people  knowing  we  were  conceited,  if  we  were  con- 
ceited in  that  way?  Would  anybody  find  us  out?  "  No,  you  think 
not,"  you  tell  me.  But  why  ?  "  Because,"  you  say,  "  we  would 
keep  our  thoughts  to  ourselves  ;  we  wouldn't  tell  of  the  feelings 
we  have." 

Now,  do  you  think  you  could  really  do  that  ?     Do  you  suppose 


I38    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

that  you  could  deceive  iu  that  way  and  not  show  it  by  your  con- 
duct, even  if  you  said  nothing  about  it? 

Take,  for  instance,  two  boys  or  girls,  one  of  them  very  con- 
ceited, and  the  other  not  so.  How  would  they  act  when  trying" 
to  improve  themselves  ?  Which  one  would  be  going  to  others 
seeking  for  information,  or  trying  to  learn  from  other  people  ? 
Would  it  be  the  conceited  one  ? 

"  No,"  you  say,  "  it  would  not  be  the  conceited  one."  But  why 
not?  Would  he  not  want  to  improve  himself  just  the  same? 
"No,"  you  answer;  "  he  would  be  thinking  that  he  knew  it  al- 
ready, fancying  that  he  could  not  learn  anything  from  anybody 
else."  Have  you  ever  come  across  boys  and  girls  who  acted  as  if 
they  knew  more  than  their  teachers  did?  Don't  you  think  they 
were  rather  ridiculous?  Are  such  boys  and  girls  conceited,  do 
you  think  ?     "  Yes,  decidedly,"  you  say. 

Then  which  class  of  persons,  do  you  suppose,  are  most  likely 
to  go  on  improving  themselves— those  who  are  very  conceited, 
and  think  they  "  know  it  already,"  or  those  who  are  rather  doubt- 
ful about  how  much  they  know  and  try  to  learn  from  others  ? 
You  think,  do  you,  that  "  the  conceited  boy  or  girl  would  not  im- 
prove so  much?"     Yes,  I  agree  with  you  there. 

How  do  you  think  a  conceited  boy  or  girl  would  act  toward 
other  people  in  the  way  of  helping  them  ?  If  he  felt  that  he 
knew  more  and  was  smarter  than  they  were,  then  he  would  try  to 
help  them,  would  he  not,  and  make  them  as  smart  as  himself,  or 
make  them  think  they  were — would  not  that  be  his  way? 

You  smile  at  that,  I  see  ;  but  what  makes  you  smile  ?  Why 
should  that  seem  ridiculous?  "Oh,"  you  say,  "he  would  feel 
himself  so  much  superior  that  he  would  have  a  kind  of  contempt 
for  them  and  would  not  try  to  help  them." 

As  a  rule,  do  people  like  us  or  dislike  us,  if  we  are  conceited  ? 
"Oh,  they  dislike  us,"  you  answer.  But  can  you  explain  that? 
Why  should  others  dislike  us  if  we  show  self-conceit?  "  Why," 
you  say,  "  they  would  dislike  us  because  we  should  be  showing 
that  we  had  a  feeling  of  contempt  for  them  ;  we  should  not  be 
trying  to  help  them  when  they  needed  our  help."  "We  should 
be  inclined  to  'show  off,'  to  them,"  you  tell  me. 

But  why  should  people  mind  our  trying  to  "  show  off,"  as  you 
say?  "Oh,"  you  answer,  "people  who  do  that  are  tiresome." 
You  think,  do  you,  that  we  get  tired  of  people  who  are  all  the 
time  talking  about  themselves  ?     I  am  afraid  you  are  right,  there. 

And  you  think,  do  you,  that  people  can  even  show  off  without 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    1 39 

talking  ?  That  is  what  you  meant  when  you  said  that  a  person 
could  be  conceited  without  constantly  speaking  of  himself  ? 

Do  you  mean  to  say,  for  example,  that  a  person  who  never  talks 
of  himself  could  constantly  call  attention  to  himself?  "Yes," 
you  say.  How?  I  ask.  He  does  not  say  to  you,  "  look  at  me." 
'■'  Oh,  yes,"  you  answer,  "  but  he  acts  that  way." 

Why,  how  could  a  man  act  that  way,  if  he  did  not  say  anything? 
"  Oh,"  you  tell  me,  "he  could  show  it  by  the  way  he  walks,  how 
he  holds  his  head,  by  the  way  he  smiles." 

Now,  as  to  a  proverb  about  self-conceit,  let  me  give  one  thought 
that  is  two  or  three  thousand  years  old.  Think  what  it  means 
when  I  read  it  to  you  : 

"  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his  own  conceit  ? 
There  is  more  hope  of  a  fool  than  of  him." 

What  sense  is  there  in  that  saying?  What  do  you  mean  when 
you  say  that  there  is  no  hope  for  a  man  wise  in  his  own  conceit, 
or  that  you  could  do  more  with  a  fool  than  with  such  a  man?  Does 
it  imply  that  the  man  has  no  hope  for  himself?  "  Oh,  no,"  you 
answer,  "  he  has  a  great  deal  of  hope  for  himself;  he  thinks  he 
is  going  to  do  wonderful  things."     Yes,  I  think  you  are  right. 

You  mean,  do  you,  that  other  people  are  hopeless  about  him. 
But  why  do  they  feel  that  way  ?  What  did  we  say  about  the  con- 
ceited man  improving  himself?  Did  you  tell  me  that  he  was 
more,  or  less,  liable  to  improve  than  the  man  who  was  not  con- 
ceited? "Less  so,"  you  answer.  Then  you  see,  do  you,  why 
there  is  little  hope  for  a  self-conceited  man — he  thinks  he  knows 
it  all  and  will  not  improve — is  that  what  you  have  in  mind  ? 
"  Yes,"  you  say. 

Already,  then,  two  or  three  thousand  years  ago,  people  knew 
that  even  the  most  stupid  person  had  more  chance  of  improving 
than  the  conceited  person.  The  trouble  would  be  that  a  conceited 
person  might  also  be  stupid  and  not  know  it ;  or,  even  if  he  were 
smart  at  the  beginning,  the  stupid  man  might  pass  ahead  of  him 
by  gradually  improving.  And  so  there  is  a  great  deal  of  wisdom 
in  this  old  proverb. 


What  are  the  points  that  we  have  learned  now  about  being  con- 
ceited ? 

In  the  first  place,  that  conceited  people  may  talk  a  great  deal 
about  themselves. 

In  the  second  place,  that  they  may  feel  or  be  Mzxy  conceited,  and 
yet  not  say  it  in  w  ords. 


140    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

In  the  third  place,  that  a  conceited  person  can  show  it  by  the 
way  he  acts. 

In  the  fourth  place,  that  a  conceited  person  is  not  so  liable  to 
improve,  because  he  feels  that  he  knows  it  already,  and  will  not 
try  to  learn  from  others. 

In  the  fifth  place,  that  a  conceited  person  is  not  liable  to  be 
helpful  to  others,  but  rather  contemptuous  toward  them. 

And  then  we  had  the  talk  about  the  proverb. 

Each  lesson  is  worked  out  in  this  manner  for  the 
teacher.  It  will  be  readily  seen  why  we  make  use 
of  this  special  form  of  dialogue.  These  are  notes 
exclusively    for    the    teacher,    prepared    in    this    way 

in  order  to  suggest  the  method  to  be  pursued  and  the 
points  to  be  elaborated.  We  take  it  for  granted,  how- 
ever, that  each  teacher  will  introduce  the  questions  in 
his  own  way  and  draw  out  the  answers  in  any  manner 
he  finds  most  feasible.  The  members  of  the  class  do 
not  see  these  notes  and  really  should  not  know  of  their 
existence.  The  aim  is,  as  far  as  possible,  to  get  the 
boys  and  girls  to  see  the  points  of  the  lessons  as  coming 
out  of  their  own  experience,  leaving  them  to  give  the 
answers  wherever  this  is  possible,  and  so  having  them 
feel  that  what  is  being  taught  them  may  really  come  to 
them  through  what  is  going  on  in  their  own  lives. 

To  be  sure,  this  method  may  be  carried  too  far,  and 
the  teacher  ought  always  to  make  the  young  feel  that 
he  knows  more  than  they  do.  At  times  the  method  of 
instruction  should  be  dogmatic.  We  may  be  obliged  to 
say  that  we  know  this  to  be  true,  because  it  has  been 
found  out  through  hundreds  and  thousands  of  years  in 
the  experience  of  other  people. 

In  this  way  we  can  go  on  with  one  habit  after  an- 
other, as,  for  instance,  "Generosity"  or  "  Stinginess  ;" 
habits    of  "Borrowing,"    "Being   Lazy,"   "Swearing," 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.    I4I 

"Being  Studious,"  "Pride,"  "Perseverance,"  "Or- 
der," "Humility,"  "  Self-Denial,"  or  "Procrastina- 
tion." 

We  may  discuss  such  a  habit    as  "  Consideration  for 
Others."     Any  amount   of  talk   can  be   aroused    over 
what  such  a  habit  really  means.     We  begin,  for  instance, 
with  an  illustration  of  a  young  man  in  a  crowded  street 
car,  where  an  old  person,  feeble  in  health   or  strength, 
comes  in,  together  with  a  beautiful  young  woman  ;  and 
the  man  gives  his  seat  to  the  young  woman,  leaving  the 
old  person  standing.     Was  that  true  consideration  for 
others  ?      If   not,   why  ?      What  was   wrong  with   the 
motive  ?     Then  we  can   show  the  various  reasons  for 
displaying  true  consideration  for  others,  and  the  meth- 
ods of  doing  it.     A  fine  opportunity  is  offered  in  such  a 
theme  for  discussing  what  the  word   "gentleman"  or 
"  gentlemanlike,"  "  lady  "  or  "  ladylike,"   really  means  ; 
so  that  the  boys  and  girls  may  get  some  definite  idea  of 
these  terms  in  their  earlier  years,  and  may  be  able  to  see 
that  the  spirit  of  the  "  lady  "  or  "  gentleman  "  is  shown, 
not  by  the  mere  forms  in  dealing  with  others,  but  by  a 
true  consideration  for  people's  feelings,  inasmuch  as  con- 
duct of  this  kind  is  concerned  with  what  is   on  the  in- 
side, rather  than  what  is  on  the  outside. 

We  may  go  on  with  the  habits  of  "  Bravery,"  of 
"  Play,"  "  Cheating,"  "  Teasing,"  "  Frugality  " — dis- 
tinguishing between  the  habit  of  "being  saving"  with 
money,  and  the  larger  frugality  of  being  saving  in  the 
way  of  using  one's  time  or  employing  one's  efforts,  A 
very  successful  lesson — especially  with  the  boys — deals 
with  the  subject  of  "  Being  Soldierly,"  and  what  ad- 
vantages are  offered  for  developing  a  broader  and  higher 
idea  of  chivalry ;  at  the  same  time  the  elemental  feature 


142    THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

of  becoming  "  soldierly  "  involved  in  the  idea  of  drill, 
opens  up  the  whole  subject  as  to  the  method  for  acquir- 
ing good  habits,  and  how  such  habits  can  be  strength- 
ened only  by  a  slow  process  of  drill,  so  that  a  man  may 
acquire  the  habit  of  courage,  of  truth,  or  of  generosity 
only  by  the  same  sort  of  drill  or  discipline  by  which  one 
becomes  a  good  soldier. 

Then,  about  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven,  we  pass  on  to  a 
series  of  studies  connected  with  the  "institutions,"  or 
what  we  might  call  "  institutional  life,"  taking  up  from 
year  to  year,  first  the  "  Home,"  then  "  Citizenship  and 
One's  Country,"  and  afterwards  the  "  Self,"  or  "  The 
Duties  to  One's  Self." 

We  begin  with  the  Home  as  the  simpler  study,  and  a 
subject  most  easily  understood  by  the  young.  Natur- 
ally we  do  not  talk  to  them  of  "  institutions  "  or  "  insti- 
tutional life."  To  them  it  is  just  home.  The  teacher  at 
the  outset,  talking  about  the  subject  for  the  years'  study, 
may  have  a  bird's  nest  in  his  hand,  and  introduce  the 
subject  of  "home'  with  a  talk  about  the  "nest." 
There  is  the  question  as  to  what  makes  home.  Is  it  the 
house  we  live  in  ?  the  place  ?  the  locality  ?  or  the 
people?  What  constitutes  "home?"  In  what  way  is 
home  unlike  any  other  place  in  the  world  ?  And  here 
the  point  comes  out  that  in  the  home,  more  than  any- 
where else,  we  belong  together.  We  do  not  work  for 
pay,  nor  do  we  share,  in  the  home,  according  to  what  we 
do  but  rather  according  to  what  we  need.  The  young 
can  see  how  it  is,  therefore,  that  in  the  family  there  is  a 
"clinging  together"  that  exists  nowhere  else  in  the 
world. 


THE    PLAN   OF   AN    ETHICAL    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.       I43 

Along  with  this  must  come  the  study  of  the  relations 
between  the  different  members  of  the  home,  beginning, 
naturally,  with  the  relation  of  the  child  to  the  father  and 
the  mother.  There  comes  the  query  what  the  young 
owe  to  their  fathers  and  mothers.  "  Obedience,"  for  in- 
stance, is  the  answer.  Then,  what  does  obedience 
mean  ?  There  must  be  a  series  of  lessons  telling  about 
the  subject  of  obedience  and  submission  to  father  and 
mother.  There  comes  in  the  old  illustration  about 
"  eye-service  "  and  obeying  in  the  letter  and  not  in  the 
spirit,  with  some  of  the  reasons  why  the  young  should 
obey  father  and  mother.  Then  there  should  be  a  talk 
about  what  father  and  mother  do  for  their  children. 
The  children  are  to  name  over  everything  they  can  pos- 
sibly think  of  that  is  done  for  them  by  their  parents. 
But  when  the  final  question  comes  as  to  why  one 
should  obey,  this  theme  always  ends  with  the  one  cru- 
cial answer  :  Because  they  are  my  father  and  mother. 
These  words  are  to  be  lodged  with  a  fixity  in  the  mind 
as  if  beyond  analysis  or  explanation. 

Then  there  is  to  be  a  talk  concerning  obedience  in  the 
larger  sense,  and  what  it  means.  The  young  are  to 
understand  that  they  are  not  to  obey  simply  because 
they  are  young,  but  because  obedience  is  a  great,  uni- 
versal rule  of  life,  and  that  all  persons  of  all  ages  are 
obliged  to  obey.  They  can  see  from  their  school-life 
how  their  teacher,  whom  they  have  to  obey,  must  sub- 
mit to  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  principal  of  the 
school ;  how  the  principal  must  submit  to  the  rules  of 
the  school  board,  and  how  the  school  board  must  sub- 
mit to  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  city  government  or  by 
the  people ;  and  it  can  be  shown  how,  in  the  work  we 
have  to  do,  whatever  employment  we  have,  while  we 


144      THE   PLAN   ON   AN   ETHICAL   SUNDAY   SCHOOL. 

may  be  in  a  position  to  command  certain  persons,  there 
are  others  who  are  in  a  position  to  command  us.  The 
wage-earner  must  submit  to  the  man  in  the  office  ;  the 
man  in  the  office  to  the  president  of  the  company ;  and 
the  president  to  his  board  of  directors. 

One  very  important  lesson  is  concerned  with  what  we 
owe  to  our  fathers  and  mothers  when  we  are  grown  up, 
and  it  is  to  be  shown  how  mean  and  base  those  people 
are  who  neglect  their  aged  parents. 

As  an  illustration  of  these  various  lessons  I  select 
from  the  course  of  the  year's  study  a  portion  of  the 
one  dealing  with  the  "  Meaning  of  Obedience  ": 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  phrase  "  eye-servant  "  ?  "  No,"  you 
say,  "you  have  never  heard  of  it." 

But  can  you  guess  what  it  would  mean  ? 

Suppose  I  give  you  an  example.  Have  you  ever  known  a  pet 
dog  to  take  food  from  the  family  table  when  no  one  was  in  the 
room,  although  he  would  never  do  it  if  anybody  were  present? 
"Some  dogs  would  not  doit,"  you  say.  Yes,  that  is  true,  but 
how  about  all  kinds  of  dogs  ? 

"  Oh,"  you  answer,  "  there  are  other  dogs  which  would  steal  in 
just  that  way."  And  so  you  really  call  it  stealing,  do  you?  But 
why  was  it  that  the  dog  dared  to  take  the  food  when  nobody  was 
present?  "Why,"  you  answer,  "  he  somehow  felt  that  nobody 
was  seeing  him,  and  so  that  nobody  would  know  anything  about 
it."  You  mean,  do  you,  then,  that  he  was  a  dog  who  would  obey 
when  somebody  had  an  eye  on  him  ? 

Do  you  begin  to  see  what  is  meant  by  an  "eye-servant"? 
What  sense  is  there  in  that  kind  of  a  term  ?  "  You  know  now," 
you  answer?  Well,  what  does  it  mean?  "Oh,"  you  say,  "it 
means  anybody  who  obeys  when  he  is  being  watched,  and  dis- 
obeys when  nobody  can  see  him."  Yes,  I  suspect  that  you  have 
found  out  what  is  meant  by  "  eye-service." 

Did  you  ever  see  any  persons  working  harder  when  somebody 
is  near  looking  at  them — when,  for  instance,  their  teacher  or 
father  or  mother  is  near — and  then  working  more  carelessly  when 
nobody  is  near  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  such  conduct 
and  the  dog  we  have  talked  about  ?  "  It  is  pretty  much  the 
same,"  you  say. 


THE    PLAN    OF   AN    ETHICAL    SUNDAY   SCHOOL.       I45 

Then  what  would  you  call  such  persons?  "Eye-servants?" 
Yes,  that  is  the  word  ;  we  should  call  them  eye-servants. 

And  do  you  think  people  who  follow  rules  in  that  way  can  say 
that  the}*  are  obedient?  Is  that  real  obedience,  or  is  it  "  make- 
believe  "?    You  answer,  "  it  is  make-believe." 

What  is  it,  then,  that  you  lose  in  the  mind  of  your  father  and  mo- 
ther when  they  discover  your  disobedience  ?  You  have  answered 
that  question  already  in  the  other  illustration.  "Their  confidence 
and  trust,"  you  say.     Yes,  that  is  just  it. 

Then  when  a  person  disobeys  under  those  circumstances,  he  has 
done  something  else  besides  showing  disobedience,  has  he  not? 
He  has  shown,  besides,  that  he  cannot  be  trusted. 

But  do  you  think  that  this  sort  of  disobedience  ever  takes  place 
among  grown  people  ?  Perhaps  you  don't  understand  my  question, 
as  you  don't  answer. 

But  if,  when  you  are  grown  up  and  there  are  a  number  of  you 
working  together,  and  you  have  agreed  to  work  according  to  cer- 
tain rules  ;  then  suppose  that  only  one  of  you  should  be  present  at 
the  work  for  a  time,  and  he  should  break  the  rules  because  it 
would  be  easier,  although  it  would  make  more  work  for  the  rest  of 
you  when  you  came  back. 

Now  when  you  found  that  other  one  out,  what  would  he  have 
lost  in  your  respect?  "Your  confidence,"  you  say?  Exactly. 
And  what  would  you  be  inclined  to  call  that  man  ;  would  he  not 
be  like  the  dog  you  have  described  ?  How  would  you  name  him  ? 
"  An  eye-servant?"     Yes,  that  would  be  it,  exactly. 

Do  you  think  then  that  a  boy  or  girl  who  would  do  that  way 
with  a  father  or  mother  might  have  the  same  habit  when  grown 
up,  and  dealing  with  other  people?  I  wonder  if  you  can  think  of 
another  term  for  that  sort  of  disobedience.  Suppose  you  write  it 
down,  I  will  spell  it  for  you. 

There  is  the  word — "Cheating."  Is  not  such  disobedience  a 
kind  of  cheating  towards  your  parents  when  you  are  children,  or 
toward  grown  people  when  they  are  grown  up  ? 

You  said,  however,  that  if  one  acted  in  this  respect  towards 
one's  father  or  mother  and  were  found  out,  one  would  lose  their 
confidence.  But  suppose  one  were  not  found  out,  then  would  it 
make  any  difference?  "Not  so  far  as  father  and  mother  would 
be  concerned,"  you  say.  But  would  it  make  any  difference  at  all  ? 
"Yes,"  you  answer,  "it  might  lead  one  to  do  it  again,  and  so 
be  found  out  next  time."  But  suppose  you  would  not  be  found 
out  next  time,  yet  in  that  case  you  would  lose  something  ;  can 


I46      THE    PLAN    OF   AN   ETHICAL   SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

you    think    what    it    is?     Self what?     "You    don't    know?" 

Well,  write  it  down — I  will  tell  you — Self-respect !  You  would 
lose  your  own  self-respect. 

Talking  of  this  subject  of  obedience  leads  me  to  one  other 
rather  curious  question.  I  suppose  you  admire  courage  ;  we  all  do. 
Does  it  take  more  pluck  or  courage  to  obey  or  disobey  ? 

For  instance,  when  a  boy  or  girl  says  ' '  I  won't,"  does  that  show 
that  he  is  weak  or  strong  ? 

"Oh,"  you  say,  "it  shows  courage;  he  is  bold;  he  is  able  to 
say  that,  even  if  he  is  going  to  be  punished." 

Then  you  would  admire  him,  would  you,  when  he  says  "I 
won't"? 

But  if,  when  you  ask  him  a  favor,  suppose  at  that  moment  he 
should  say  "  no,  I  won't  ";  would  that  show  courage  on  his  part? 
It  would  be  boldness  and  defiance,  "  No,"  you  answer,  "it  would 
be  mean." 

When  we  talk  about  courage,  do  we  usually  understand  by  the 
word  doing  easy  things  or  hard  things?  "Why,"  you  say,  "it 
usually  means  doing  hard  things,  perhaps  doing  things  that  we 
don't  like  to  do." 

Now  which  comes  easier,  when  a  man  has  something  disagree- 
able before  him  that  he  has  been  told  to  do,  to  say  "I  won't," 
or  to  go  and  do  it?  "Why,"  you  say,  "it  is  easier  to  say  'I 
won't.'"     Then  which  is  the  courageous  course? 

I  wonder  if  you  ever  knew  of  a  boy  or  girl  who  was  laughed  at 
because  he  was  going  to  do  something  which  he  had  been  told  to 
do  by  his  father  or  mother.  What  if  he  had  given  in  to  the  laugh- 
ter of  the  other  boys  and  girls  and  not  shown  obedience,  would 
that  have  been  courage  or  cowardice?  "Oh,  that  would  have 
been  a  kind  of  cowardice,"  you  say. 

Then  it  looks,  does  it  not,  as  if  showing  obedience,  after  all, 
meant  showing  courage,  and  that  it  is  the  coward  who  tries  not  to 
obey,  or  who  tries  to  sneak  out  of  what  he  has  to  do  ? 

Talking  of  grown  people,  of  those  who  become  strong,  power- 
ful men,  do  you  think,  as  a  rule,  they  were  the  kind  of  boys  who 
were  obedient  or  disobedient — which  ? 

We  go  on  into  a  study  of  the  relation  between  the 
children  themselves  in  the  home,  what  they  owe  to 
each  other,  and  what  is  the  fundamental  principle  under- 
lying such  a  relationship.  Sometimes,  in  answer  to  a 
question  of  this  kind,  we  give  them  a  word  or  phrase 


THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL.   1 47 

which  they  are  permanently  to  remember.  Each  of 
our  classes  has  a  small  blackboard  at  hand,  and  when 
there  are  any  special  terms  or  phrases  that  we  care  to 
lodge  permanently  in  the  minds  of  the  boys  and  girls, 
we  have  the  word  or  phrase  written  on  the  blackboard 
by  one  of  the  members  of  the  class.  It  is  to  stay  there 
for  a  time  before  their  eyes,  and  by  this  means  to  receive 
special  emphasis. 

In  this  way  we  give  the  young  the  term  "  mutual 
service'  as  something  they  are  always  to  remember, 
describing  the  relationship  between  brothers  and  sisters 
in  the  home,  what  this  relationship  has  to  be  at  the  out- 
set, and  what  it  should  be  all  through  life. 

We  must  go  into  some  discussion  as  to  the  feelings 
that  may  develop  among  boys  and  girls  in  the  home  ; 
what  leads  to  bad  feelings  ;  how,  to  some  extent,  those 
feelings  can  be  avoided.  We  may  raise  the  question, 
why  in  one  home  brothers  and  sisters  are  fond  of  each 
other,  and  in  another  home  do  not  seem  to  care  for  each 
other  at  all ; — why,  again,  when  boys  and  girls  grow  up, 
in  certain  families  a  feeling  of  "mutual  service"  contin- 
ues all  through  life ;  whereas,  in  other  families,  this 
seems  to  die  out  altogether.  The  question  as  to  the 
relationship  between  brothers  and  sisters  when  they  are 
grown  up  cannot  be  too  strongly  dwelt  upon.  They 
must  see  that  it  may  be  necessary  for  them  to  use 
special  effort  in  order  to  preserve  the  relationship  of 
mutual  service  among  themselves  as  brothers  and  sisters 
in  the  way  it  prevailed  in  the  earlier  years  of  their 
home-life. 

In  the  study  of  the  home  there  must  be  a  talk  about 
the  "  Family  Table,"  and  what  it  means  ;  why  we  have 
a  family  table  ;  what  reasons  there  are  for  taking  our 


I48      THE   PLAN   OF   AN   ETHICAL   SUNDAY   SCHOOL. 

meals  together ;  what  are  the  common  courtesies  at  the 
family  table ;  the  reasons  for  refinement  in  table  man- 
ners ;  why  it  is  that  people  take  their  meals  together, 
rather  than  each  one  eat  as  he  pleases  or  when  he 
pleases.  The  opportunity  is  afforded  here  of  contrast- 
ing the  way  animals  eat,  with  the  family  table  of  a 
refined,  civilized  home. 

Anyone  can  see  the  importance  of  having  a  talk  about 
"  Sickness  and  Sorrow  "  in  the  home,  and  how  we  ought 
to  conduct  ourselves  under  these  circumstances  ;  as  to 
what  can  be  done  to  be  of  service  at  such  times  ;  how 
we  can  be  of  assistance  to  those  who  are  sick  ;  and  in 
what  way  we  can  try  to  be  less  selfish  if  we  happen  to  be 
sick  ourselves.  This  subject  also  carries  one  far  beyond 
the  study  of  childhood,  and  the  main  thought  of  the 
lesson  should  rather  be  directed  further  ahead  to  the 
time  when  the  young  will  be  grown  up  and  have  to 
consider  how  they  should  conduct  themselves  in  homes 
of  their  own  when  there  is  illness  there,  or  when  they 
themselves  are  the  afflicted  ones. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  the  Home  as  an 
institution,  we  introduce  a  series  of  lessons  explaining 
the  meaning  of  Festivals.  It  adds  a  little  variety  or 
charm  to  what  may  seem  like  the  monotony  of  the 
subject.  Hence,  for  instance,  in  this  special  series  of 
lessons,  the  Sunday  after  "  Thanksgiving  Day  "  is  de- 
voted to  a  talk  about  that  festival,  what  it  means,  how 
it  arose,  what  sort  of  significance  it  may  have,  or  what 
it  stands  for. 

So,  too,  during  the  holidays,  a  Sunday  morning  is 
devoted  to  a  talk  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Christmas 
festival. 

One  other  Sunday  morning  in  the  year  is  given  in  the 


THE   PLAN   OF   AN   ETHICAL   SUNDAY   SCHOOL.        1 49 

Home  studies  to  a  talk  about  "  Birthdays  ; "  why  we 
commemorate  birthdays  ;  the  sentiments  connected  with 
them  ;  what  reason  there  may  be  for  recognizing  each 
other's  birthdays,  or  the  birthdays  of  great  men.  In 
this  connection,  some  idea  may  be  given  to  the  young 
of  what  we  mean  by  "  Memorial  Days,"  and  why  we 
have  them  in  connection  with  famous  persons  who  have 
been  of  service  to  the  world. 

At  Easter-time,  of  course,  we  must  give  one  lesson  to 
an  analysis  of  the  Easter  festival.  We  wish  naturally  to 
give  a  wider  significance  to  it  than  it  receives  in  the  con- 
ventional Sunday-school ;  and  so  we  connect  it  with  the 
universal  "Spring  Festival;'  with  the  thought  of  the 
renewal  of  the  life  of  Nature.  And  the  lesson  may  be 
connected  with  some  "  Nature  poetry." 

In  dealing  with  this  study  of  the  Home,  the  teacher 
is  sure  to  find  that,  ere  long,  the  members  of  the  class 
become  a  little  weary  of  the  theme.  Before  the  season 
ends  one  or  another  of  the  children  is  quite  sure  to  be 
overheard  saying  "  Oh,  I  am  tired  of  the  Home."  And 
yet  we  wish,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  having  this  feel- 
ing arise.  As  a  result  of  such  experience,  we  have  in- 
troduced another  feature  in  connection  with  these  Home 
studies,  and  one  that  has  worked  quite  happily  in  avoid- 
ing the  monotony  of  just  one  theme  for  a  whole  season. 

Along  with  the  study  of  Home,  or  Family  Life,  we 
have  a  series  of  studies  telling  of  the  home  or  social 
life  in  the  great  Animal  Kingdom.  In  a  way,  this  part 
of  the  lesson  can  also  be  made  subsidiary  to  the  main 
theme,  while  adding  charm  and  variety  to  it.  It  will  be 
very  readily  found  that  the  children  would  be  only  too 
glad  to  employ  the  whole  lesson  hour  throughout  the 
year  talking  about  animals   and  telling  animal  stories. 


150   THE  PLAN  OF  AN  ETHICAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

We  need  take  only  from  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  of  the 
morning  lesson  for  this  purpose,  perhaps  studying  the 
home  or  social  life  of  one  type  of  animal  each  Sunday. 
At  one  time  it  may  be  the  home  life  among  birds  ; 
then  again,  among  fishes,  and  we  tell  about  sticklebacks 
and  their  nests.  Another  Sunday  there  may  be  some 
talk  about  the  termites  and  the  colonies  or  homes  which 
they  build  for  themselves.  Here  and  there  we  can 
introduce  beautiful  stories  dealing  with  animal  life, 
as,  for  instance,  making  use  of  Kipling's  "  The  White 
Seal."  Then,  too,  we  can  go  into  some  little  account 
of  the  home  and  social  life  of  the  larger  animals  ;  to 
what  extent  they  live  by  themselves  ;  how  they  take 
care  of  their  young  ;  to  what  extent  they  have  separate 
homes,  or  live  in  herds  or  colonies.  At  the  same  time, 
we  take  the  greatest  care  that  these  animal  stories  shall 
not  be  of  all  sorts  and  kinds,  just  with  the  idea  of  amus- 
ing or  entertaining  the  children.  We  adhere  rigidly  to 
our  theme,  and  nothing  is  to  be  introduced  or  talked 
about  in  these  animal  studies  save  in  connection  with 
the  home,  family  or  social  life  of  animals.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  study  affords  an  opportunity  of  show- 
ing the  superiority  of  human  beings  over  the  whole 
Animal  Kingdom,  in  that  they  preserve  the  family 
relationship  all  through  life ;  whereas,  for  the  most 
part  throughout  the  Animal  Kingdom,  it  is  only  a 
relationship  between  parent  and  child  during  the  early 
portion  of  life  when  the  young  cannot  take  care  of 
themselves. 


iHTEf^ATIOFlALi 

JoU^^aii  op  Ethics 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE. 

HENRY  C.  ADAMS,  Ph.  D.,  Ann  Arbor  HAROLD  HOFFDING,  Ph.  D.,  Copen- 

FELIX  ADLER,  Ph.  D.,  New  York  hagen 

GIACOMO  BARZELOTTI,  Ph.  D.,Na-  J.    S.    MACKENZIE,  M.   A.,    Cardiff, 

pies  Wales 

STANTON  COIT,  Ph.  D.,  London  J.    H.    MUIRHEAD,   M.   A.,   Birming- 
ALFRED  FOUILLEE,  Ph.  D.,  Paris  ham,  Eng. 

FR.  JODL,  Ph.  D.,  Vienna  JOS1AH  ROYCE,  Ph.  D.,  Cambridge 

Managing  Editor,  S.  BURNS  WESTON,  Philadelphia. 


APRIL  NUMBER 


ETHICAL    SURVIVALS   IN    MUNICIPAL    CORRUPTION.      Jane    Addams. 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICE.     J.  B.  Baillie,  Edinburgh  University. 

THE  ETHICAL  MOTIVE.     Franklin  H.  Giddings,  Columbia  University. 

SELF-REALIZATION    AS    A    WORKING     MORAL    PRINCIPLE.       Henry 
Sturt,  Oxford,  England. 

THE  MORAL  VALUE  OF  SILENCE.     Felix  Abler,  New  York. 

DISCUSSION  AND  BOOK   REVIEWS. 


JULY  NUMBER 

THE  NATIONAL  ARBITRATION  LAW.      F.  J.  Stimson,  Boston. 

THE    BEARINGS  OF    PHILOSOPHY    ON    EDUCATION.    J.  S.  Mackenzie 
Cardiff,  Wales. 

THE  BROTHERS  OF  SINCERITY.     Thomas  Davidson,  New  York. 

PHILOSOPHY  AND  THE  ACTIVITY-EXPERIENCE.     William  Caldwell, 
Northwestern  University. 

DEFECTIVE  CHILDREN  :    THEIR  RIGHTS  AND  THEIR  NEEDS.     Mar- 
tin W.  Barr,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

SIDGWICK   AND    SCHOPENHAUER   ON   THE    FOUNDATIONS   OF    MO- 
RALITY.    Michael  Macmillan,  Bombay,  India. 
BOOK  REVIEWS.  

"This  is  the  ablest  of  all  magazines  dealing  with  ethical  questions,  and  is  simply 
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